The Taste
by Kihin Ranno
Summary: A chance meeting results in something of an awkward conversation and an unwanted realization.


The Taste  
Sailor Moon Monthly Fanfiction Challenge on LiveJournal  
August Challenge - Day Four: Bitter  
by Kihin Ranno  
1/1

"I always thought you had a sweet tooth."

Mamoru looked up from his traditional morning coffee and his traditional morning paper, the brim of the mug still resting between his lips. He was a bit surprised to see Setsuna standing there, looking perfectly composed as always. He couldn't say groomed to perfection because that was a description he reserved for Michiru. Setsuna might not have had a hair out of place or any other discernable flaws, but he would not say she was groomed to perfection. It wasn't fitting for whatever reason.

He swallowed quickly, afraid that his reverie had gone on too long when she quirked an eyebrow. Setsuna wasn't extremely expressive, but her eyebrows said more than most of Minako's facial expressions if a person cared to look. "Setsuna," he said, finally, gesturing to the seat across from him. "Please, sit."

"I can't stay long," she assured him, sliding into the seat with a grace that was practiced but not at all artificial. She looked back at the coffee mug in his hands and said, "I thought you preferred chocolate."

Mamoru laughed, remembering a similar conversation back in February with two hyperactive blondes. He hoped this one ended better. "I do, but I treat chocolate like a reward system. Only after I finish a paper or I do well on an exam."

Her eyebrows moved again, inquisitive and amused. "Not when you rescue damsels in distress from certain doom?"

Mamoru silently noted somewhat lecherously that his rewards for that were much more physical in nature and required the presence of his girlfriend, but he certainly couldn't say that to Setsuna. Instead, he chuckled serenely and charitably said, "Sometimes." It wasn't a lie after all. Chocolate was involved on occasion.

Setsuna's eyebrows shifted once more, and Mamoru was briefly alarmed that she knew what he had been thinking. But of course that was silly. She was neither omnipotent nor a mind reader. It was ridiculous to consider that she knew he'd been thinking naughty thoughts in mixed company.

He took a very long sip of coffee, ignoring how his throat burned.

While he was guzzling that gulp of liquid, Setsuna's garnet eyes traveled over to the packets of sugar and containers of cream that had been hidden by Mamoru's elbow. Her eyebrows lifted in realization. "So I wasn't wrong about your sweet tooth."

Mamoru chuckled once the coffee had finished racing down his esophagus and nodded. "Yes, I can't stand anything that tastes bitter. I need the caffeine, but there's no way I could drink coffee black."

Setsuna nodded coolly, her brow furrowed now. "I see." She glanced up at him, eyes piercing him so thoroughly that he had to set down the coffee mug to keep from dropping it. It hit the table like it was a lead weight.

"Setsuna, is something--"

She leaned forward suddenly but deliberately, closing her lips around his own. Her eyes stayed open, watching him; his eyes stayed open, his eyelids too shocked so much as twitch. They only seemed to widen more when her tongue moved past his lips, slipping across the inside of his mouth once and only once. Then she moved back into her seat, almost as if nothing had happened.

"Do I taste bitter?" she asked, her eyebrow arched seductively, a hint of a smile playing on her dark lips.

"N-No," Mamoru stammered, still quite sure that he had no idea what had just happened.

She looked... satisfied. "Good." Then she slipped out of her seat and wandered off to do other things she did not feel the inclination to share with him. She didn't even feel the inclination to bid him farewell.

He stared after her, assured of his perpetual confusion about what had just happened. He would never really know what all of that meant. All he knew was that Setsuna had very slutty eyebrows and that she tasted of secrets, shadows, and marshmallows.

Mamoru was very sorry that it was too early to Irish up his coffee.


End file.
